


The Journal, the Jukebox, the Jacket

by hops



Series: Our Endless Numbered Days [1]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Crushes, F/M, IPRE Era, The Stolen Century, uhh........they're cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-05
Updated: 2017-09-05
Packaged: 2018-12-24 01:34:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12002172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hops/pseuds/hops
Summary: At the bar after the IPRE press conference, on the eve of their big mission, Lucretia finds herself nervous.Merle has a few too many. Magnus has a dance. Lucretia has a crush.





	1. the journal

**Author's Note:**

> a few things: 
> 
> this is heavily influenced by anonymousalchemist's [[DECLASSIFIED] Interview Transcripts, Starblaster Mission](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11531085/chapters/25886241), a piece that has honestly carved a place into my heart and also my canon. thanks for being great, iz! 
> 
> this is going to have a companion piece but i haven't written it yet. so check back for that later. 
> 
> suggested listening from the oh hellos for this one: [the valley](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sf7J8wXXa8)  
> (mostly bc the companion piece is going to be the reprise lol)

Lucretia watched from the corner of the bar, her red robe folded and draped carefully onto the back of the chair she sat in. She looked back down as she wrote with two hands, a pen in each and two identical journals on the table below. The skee-ball machine next to her rang out the same muffled  _DING_ _DING_ _! t_ hat it had been every few minutes for the entirety of their time there to remind bar-goers that the game was ready to be played at any time. She nearly leapt out of her skin at the sudden sound. Coming out of the distraction, she turned her attention back to the other six of the team. A smile touched the corner of her mouth. 

She was set to spend two months with this group on the Starblaster. It made her nervous, to think that not only would that mean six new coworkers, but six new friends. Davenport was the only one that she'd had much time to talk to, seeing as she had been his transcriber for the mission's interviews, but even so she didn't feel that they were particularly close. Definitely not what she'd consider a friend. In fairness, she was quiet; she didn't have many friends on the IPRE campus to begin with. The only other connection she had was with Professor Merle Highchurch, who she'd had for a big lecture last year. She sat in the back of the auditorium and tried her best not to make herself known. And yet, at their first meeting after being chosen for the crew, he'd recognized her on sight, (even if he'd called her Lucinda. In all fairness, he had also put "Professor Merle Hightower" on his own syllabus; maybe he was just bad with names.) 

Taako and Lup were spending their night hustling some poor bar-goers at pool; she watched as the two men handed over their shoes (their  _shoes?)_ and retreat out the front door. She glanced over at the bar where Davenport, Barry, and Merle all sat with icy glass mugs in their hands. They looked so... relaxed. Like they knew how to make conversation and make friends and also not feel anxious that tomorrow morning they were setting out on a ship with six other perfect strangers into what was, despite their education and research from the IPRE, a complete and total unknown that could end in any number of scary ways. 

She stopped herself and stopped her writing and took a very deep breath. She felt as though she might have been in a little over her head. She was only nineteen after all, the youngest on the mission and, in her own eyes, the least qualified. She was the chronicler; an important role, she understood, but the least useful should anything go wrong. She wondered why they didn’t choose someone stronger, someone who could write and knew how to handle herself in whatever dangerous situations they might encounter. Not that they were expecting danger, the Institiute had assured them. Just a precaution. 

Technically they only had one crewmember trained in actual combat, Magnus Burnsides, and he was only a little older than she was. That much comforted her, at least, that she wasn't alone on a ship with people deep into careers with confidence and ability much higher than her own. 

Well, Magnus's confidence and ability were marginally higher than her own. But he was fresh meat to the IPRE just like her, compared to the others. 

She looked over at the tall and broad young man across the room, leaning against the bar with a flagon of cider dwarfed in his big hand. Magnus was nice. He always smiled at her and tried to make her laugh from across the table during meetings, but they'd only really spoken a handful of times. Magnus laughed and took a long swig of his cider and only then was she aware of the blush that had crept up onto her cheeks.

Her attention was abruptly drawn away by a large hand that smacked down onto the table and snatched one of her journals away. On reflex she leapt to her feet but found that the menacing man before her was much bigger and taller than she was. His face rests somewhere between a smirk and a scowl. 

"What'cha writing, little lady?" His voice was practically a snarl, no cadence touching the name he called her. "Just sitting here writing in the corner? What's so important?" 

"Give me my journal back, please," She said firmly, fists curled at her sides. 

"Oh, oh sure, here you go," the man mocked, moving it towards her and then tossing it to his buddy beside him with a laugh. 

Before she even had to ask, she saw Magnus rushing the two bikers and Merle coming for her. "This way, come on now," Merle called, dragging her by the hand to the bar. She looked over her shoulder at Magnus, who was already throwing a punch at the man who had first approached her. Merle squirrled her away under the bar with the bartender's blessing and, of course, she pulled out her remaining journal and continued writing between her deep breaths. She heard Magnus struggling, and Merle yelling, and Davenport just above her in his stool panicking about the IPRE's "best and brightest" breaking out in a brawl the night before their flagship mission. She peeked over the counter to get a better look. 

To her surprise, they were all very close to the bar now. In fact, Merle stood  _on_ the counter, poised to jump onto the back of the man holding her journal. As Merle grabbed onto the back of the guy's shoulders, Magnus came up and knocked the other biker's head into the counter. 

"That's no way to treat a lady, huh?" Magnus chided him through gritted teeth. The biker twisted around and managed to land a punch square to Magnus's face, causing him to lose his grip and sent him reeling back into Merle and the man he was still hanging onto. They both went reeling back onto the floor and the journal landed right below Taako's feet, who'd been perched on the edge of the pool table for a front row seat for the brawl. He cast a quick mage hand to pick the journal up and place it next to him for safekeeping. 

Magnus strode back up to the man who had initially harassed Lucretia, who'd taken a moment to hold his head in one hand to steady himself, and dragged him by the back of his shirt towards the door. "Think a little harder next time before you fuck with my friends, you dick," he warned in his anger, then shoved him towards the door. Merle was trying to do the same, but struggled with the height difference, so Lup stepped in and shoved him to the door with him. 

After both of the bikers had left the bar, Lucretia rose to her feet and let out the breath she'd been holding. Barry and Davenport looked bewildered in their seats in front of her. "Lucretia," Davenport began with trepidation, "are you alright?" 

She didn't have a chance to answer before Merle came barreling back up to her. "Lucinda, are you alright?" He exclaimed, taking both of her hands and pulling her back out from behind the bar. 

"Merle, her name is Lucretia. Please." Barry wiped a hand over his face, still a little shaken from the events that had transpired that he hadn't even partcipated in. 

Merle waved a hand. "Oh, Lucretia, Lucinda, sorry sorry. Did those assholes hurt you?" 

"No, no, I'm really okay. Thank you for, ah, coming to my aid." 

"Eh, that was all Mr. Magnus over there, but you're welcome. We've got each other's backs, right? Just write something nice about me in there." 

And, right on cue, Taako waved the stolen journal over to her with another mage hand with a lofty call of "heads!" She took the journal from the hand and watched it wisp away into smoke. 

"Merle, you're bleeding." Barry pointed to the spot on Merle's forehead where he'd been nicked by a broken bottle. 

The dwarf used a cocktail napkin to apply pressure to the cut. "Ah, whatever," he scoffed. 

"I'm sorry Merle, thank you," she said, and looked from Merle to Magnus who was now nursing what would likely be a fresh black eye in an hour (or less, at this rate,) with Lup's help. She moved from her spot beside her three teammates and over to Magnus. 

Lup removed the empty glass mug from where she'd been holding it against his eye. "Yeah, that's gonna be a shiner in the morning. Better luck next time, Maggie," she teased, placing the mug down on the bar. "You alright there, 'little lady'?" Lup mocked the biker's voice. 

"Yeah, I'm alright. Are you, Magnus? Thank you for—I didn't mean for there to be--" 

"Oh, no, I'm cool," Magnus assured her. "That was total bullshit, it's not like I'm just gonna sit by while some idiots bother you. Really, are you cool?" 

His hand touched her shoulder and she froze for a moment. 

"I'm cool," she said. 


	2. the jukebox

As the night went on, she had a few cocktails as the others bought more rounds.  She wasn't much of a drinker, but she supposed this was her last chance to have at least a little fun between the fight that had transpired earlier and the mission that was about to be two months of hard work. Instead of hiding in the corner, she took a seat between Taako and Merle and continued with her writing, between sips of something fruity that Taako had instructed the bartender on making for her. Despite the somewhat rude way he had ordered it, it was really quite good.

Merle had gone round-for-round with Magnus and Barry and was now hiccupping and practically falling out of his stool. He'd taken the chair next to Lucretia to keep an eye on her, but she had somewhat wound up being the one keeping an eye on him. She didn't mind; it was the least she could do after she'd sort of interrupted his celebration night with a brawl. 

Taako scoffed next to her as Merle lolled to the side. "You sure you wanna stay in that seat, bubbeleh?" He smirked, looking at her sideways. 

She was almost surprised he was speaking to her. He always seemed so aloof and unapproachable. "It's really okay." 

"If you say so. Hey, I'm sorry about those dicks earlier. I would have stepped in, but it seemed like our resident meathead and the nutty professor had them covered."

She laughed a little and sipped her drink. "Oh, no, I wouldn't expect anyone to put themselves in harm's way at my expense. I wouldn't want any of you getting hurt, not the night before the--" 

"Listen," Taako started, then paused to catch her nervous eye. "If we're doing this, we're doing this, right? We're a team and whatever other bullshit they've been pushing in those orientation videos. We've all got your back, 'Creesh." He patted an awkward hand on her back. 

She smiled at the nickname, a little shocked that he'd given her one at all. "Well, thanks, Taako. I'd do the same for you." 

"What? Sit by and do nothing on a pool table?" 

She laughed, genuine and grinning. "Yeah, that." 

Eventually, Merle had stumbled from his seat at the bar and over to the jukebox in the corner opposite the skee-ball machine. After some struggle and then some help from Lup who had crossed the room to aid him, he put on a song and had begun his bid to get Lup to just have one dance with him. She was just drunk enough to succeed, and the other five turned to watch in bemusement as the two of them danced carelessly, goofily, on the small dancefloor. Aside from the seven of them, the bartender was the only one left in the place. What did it matter if they embarrassed themselves? 

Coaxed over by Lup, Taako and Magnus both joined them. Lucretia watched fondly as they spun and laughed and lassoed each other around to the tune on the jukebox. She found herself drawn to the smile on Magnus's face. He lit up the whole room when he was laughing. She could hear the sound now, even over the music and the clinking of glass and the chatter of her teammates. 

Maybe she'd had a bit of a campus crush, she reluctantly admitted. It wasn't new. She'd seen him around and she thought he was handsome. Who didn't? 

Lup and Magnus approached while Merle and Taako continued to dance enthusiatically on the floor. Maybe Taako was a little more drunk than she'd observed. She straightened up as Lup passed her to drag Barry and Davenport (who was contesting her the most for it) out to the jukebox with them. Magnus arrived in front of her as she turned to face him fully. 

"Hey, come dance with us!" He said, smiling wide. Her throat felt tight. She had no clue how to say no to that grin. And there, above it, his inevitable fresh black eye. "Let's do this." 

He held out a hand and all she could think to do was take it. 

He led her through the sparse seats and past the pool tables and before they stepped onto the dancefloor, still fixated with the feeling of his big hand around hers, she stopped him. 

"Hey, ah... really, Magnus, thank you for earlier. I'm so sorry about your eye." 

He laughed and she fought the feeling of fondness that bubbled up in her chest. "Are you kidding? I'm gonna look so badass in all the pictures tomorrow. Like, 'woah! How did Magnus Burnsides get that sick black eye? Who was he protecting?' Right?" 

She giggled and looked up at him. He was still holding her hand. "Well, you can tell them it was me." 

A beat of silence passed between them, filled only by music. She was a little shocked at herself for making what was even a weak pass at flirting. Taako's crafted cocktails had gotten her this time. His lopsided smile almost knocked her off her feet. 

"C'mon, let's dance," Magnus grinned and pulled her back onto the floor. 

Magnus brought her to them and spun her into the circle they'd formed. None of them had much rhythm save for Lup and, surprisingly, Magnus. Merle looked as though he may have rhythm if he were sober, but any chance of that had been scratched out at his third shot of whiskey. And yet, she was  sandwiched between the beautiful elf and her former professor and laughter burst from her as she danced too, not caring about the opinions of perfect strangers and new coworkers or the strange unknown journey before them in just a few hours. She'd let go of those worries a drink or two ago. Taako cheered for her as she danced. 

As the song changed, they all pulled apart for a moment to breathe, laughing drunkenly together.  _Together,_ she promised herself write in the journals later. She felt connected to them for the first time. 

As another song started Magnus drifted into her space naturally as he rocked back and forth to the beat of the new song. And as the pace picked up he beamed at her once more. Feeling bold, she stepped towards him and carefully watched the movement of his hips and arms and mirrored his movement. As he moved around her guided by the shape of the other crewmembers around them, she did the same, staying across from each other as the music built up. He reached out a hand to her across the circle and, again, she took it with a blush. And they were spinning, skipping, bumping into the others who had joined in on their dance. 

By the end of the song she was panting and a little sweaty and wearing a smile she hadn't worn before: exhilarated, overjoyed,  _excited._ And there was Magnus, wearing the same. 


	3. the jacket

The bartender had no choice but to usher them all out the door after last call. They stood huddled outside for a little while before starting to talk about heading home. Most of them lived close to the IPRE campus, but Lucretia's place was a bit of a walk from the campus and the bar both. She waved goodbye and headed in the opposite direction of the rest of the group. 

It was only seconds before she heard heavy, jogging footfalls behind her. "Hey, wait!" It was Magnus behind her as she turned. "You shouldn't walk home alone. C'mon." 

She ignored the exclamation of her heart in her chest at the sight of him. "No, Magnus, really, I've bothered you enough today." 

"Okay, let's just clear this up. One: the bar? Not a bother. Two: walking you home? Also, not even remotely a bother. I just want to make sure you get home safe. I mean, it is kind of my job to keep all of you safe, so... Let me do my job?" 

"I mean technically your job doesn't start until tomorrow at 8," she sighed. "But you can walk me home. Sure." 

"It's not tomorrow, it's today! Let's go." He led her in the direction of her apartment as he pointed out the time, after midnight. At the same time, she was a little shaken by the realization that, yes, really, they were about to leave the planet for two months in just a few hours. She shivered under her robe. 

"Are you cold?" Magnus asked, and before she could even open her mouth to answer, he was shrugging out of his IPRE jacket and handing it to her. 

She wanted to say, "oh, no, it's okay, you don't have to do that," but instead, she said "thank you," with a smile and put the jacket on. It smelled like him. Her tiny smile kept her silent for a few moments.  

After a while, Magnus spoke again. "Hey, you're more quiet than usual, are you alright? 'Cause those guys, they're not gonna mess with you again." 

"Oh, no, I'm okay..." She exhaled softly into the cool night air. She snuggled deeper into his jacket. "I'm just still kind of nervous about the mission and stuff. I don't know, it's stupid I guess." She blamed her immediately oversharing on the cocktails once more, but she knew deep down that she'd sobered up a little while ago now. 

"That's not stupid," Magnus replied. She noticed that his eyes were fixed on the starry sky above them. "I'm nervous too. Like, yeah, I can act all tough and stuff for the cameras but... I dunno. I've never done anything like this before. Both of us, we're a lot younger than the rest of them." 

She felt comforted that he'd noticed that connection between them too. "Yeah I feel like I'm a little underqualified for the job." 

Magnus chuckled and looked down at his feet. "Yeah. You can say that again." 

"Hey, at least we're in it together, right? You had my back. You're... good at what you do. I can't exactly claim to be anything specia--" 

"Are you kidding me!" Magnus interrupted as they rounded a corner. "Lucretia, you can write with  _both hands_ at the  _same time!"_

 _"_ That doesn't really mean anything about my qualification, but..." 

He gripped her shoulder, stopping her under a streetlight. "The captain picked you for a reason. You've gotta be something special, 'cause this thing is that guy's whole life." As he looked at her seriously, how drunk he still was became evident. Still, he was serious as he held her gaze. 

"Thank you, Magnus." 

They continued down the street in a comfortable silence. They were approaching her apartment quickly and, to her own surprise, she was dreading arriving there for what was perhaps the first time since moving to the city to attend the Institute. Usually home meant a reprieve from all the socializing and work of the day, but tonight it meant parting from her first time feeling like she and Magnus were actually friends. But, they'd have more time for that on the mission, she supposed. 

Two months on a ship with Magnus. The idea was... not unappealing, to say the least. Again, she blamed her buzz for the fondness but there it was, plain and simple: the flutter in her heart as he flashed a smirk, the gentle admiration of the reddish highlights in his hair under the streetlights. She hardly heard him as he made idle chatter as they approached her apartment building, instead just admiring the cadence of his voice as he spoke. Her better sense warned her not to indulge these feelings, but what the hell. This was a new mission, a new chapter, maybe she could be a new Lucretia: brave and a little reckless, just like him. 

She almost laughed at the thought. Reckless, maybe, but brave? Probably not. Either way, they were leaving in just a few hours, and there was no backing out now. Considering the thought, she realized that, for the first time, she didn’t have any desire to. 

"This is me," she said, pointing up to the tall building they'd stopped in front of. "Thank you for walking me home. Can I call you a cab?" 

He shook his head. "I'm good! I like to walk at night. Or run. Either way, I'm good." 

She shrugged out of his jacket and handed it back to him. "Thank you so much, for everything. Really, it... means a lot to me that you'd look out for me like that back there. And like this, here." 

"Hey, just doing my job. And even if it wasn't my job, I still would." 

He touched her arm to say goodbye and all at once she moved forwards to lean up against him, quickly getting onto her tiptoes. Her lips brush his sideburns before pressing a tight-lipped kiss to his cheek. 

"Thank you, Magnus." 

She heard him swallow as a blush, visible even in the dim of night, touched his cheeks. 

"See you in the morning." He said, and she could hear his smile. "Goodnight, Lucy." 

As soon as she entered the building and closed the door behind her, she grinned silently to herself. By the time she took the elevator up to her apartment her cheeks ached. Things were going to be okay on this mission, she thought. She felt sure now. 

It was excitement that kept her wide awake, and not anxiety. She stared at the ceiling and thought of Magnus, the dancing, the touch of his hand, the smell of his jacket that lingered on her skin even now. She didn't sleep. 


End file.
